HDR

HDR, High Dynamic Range, is becoming a very popular technic of processing photographs. It is a process of allowing a greater dynamic range from the very light highlights to the very dark shadows. This is usually done by taking several shots at different f stops, this is called bracketing, then stacking them and adjusting the composite image with special software. The image resulting can look more like the eye sees to be something totally abstract or anything in between depending on the images and the photographer.

I have played with this technic a little bit with varying success. I think that my most successful HDR is of the inside of San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio. The photograph was taken about 2pm on a very sunny day so the light coming through the stained glass windows washed out most of the colors. I still need to reedit this photo and add the window with all its colors back into it.

It is comprised of 3 sections, right middle and left each with 3 brackets so a total of 9 photos were used. The method I used in processing this photograph was to process each section as an HDR then merge them together. This allowed me to work on keeping the halos down around the windows. I think I did a pretty good job on managing the halos and keeping it natural looking.

When I tried merging the sections together and then merge the brackets together as an HDR I was not happy with the results. It did not look right to me.

That is the nice thing about computers. You can try working with the photos in different ways and if you are not happy you do not have to save it while keeping your original files safe.

Does HDR work for all images. No, it is just another tool in the photographers toolbox to use when needed. I have seen HDR photographs by other photographers and while some have been amazing others have been awful. It really depends on the image and the photographer if this technic adds or subtracts from the photograph.

I hope that by next week I will have edited the photos I took on a recent trip so I can share them.